Talk:Gower Gulch

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[edit] Drugstore Cowboy

I'm preparing a translation of this article for the French Wikipedia. I have one question however : what's the meaning of the phrase "drugstore cowboy" ? I can't find any definition on my Robert & Collins dictionnary. Thanks aforehand for helping. --Jibi44 21:29, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

I am just guessing, but I assume the original meaning was that, as opposed to real cowboys out on the range roping steer, these are actor/extra pseudo-cowboys just milling around a drugstore waiting for work in the middle of Hollywood. In that sense, I would guess it was a term of derision regarding "fake" cowboys. The term is now most widely known now via the 1989 Gus van Sant film of the same name http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drugstore_Cowboy which is completely unrelated -- it's about a modern day (1989) group of drifters that support their drug habit by robbing drugstores. I assume the name "drugstore cowboy" was just appropriated due to its poignancy in describing the freedom of a drifter/drugstore-thief lifestyle. I believe the term "drugstore cowboy" is famous mainly in the context of the film/book, but maybe I am just unaware of its prior or current use in real life. Either way, the movie/book certianly popularized the use of the term in this sense, and now, if its used at all, it would be used in a casual sense to refer to people whose lives revolve around obtaining prescription drugs illegally, either by robbing or scamming drugstores. Jlm275 (talk) 02:50, 25 April 2008 (UTC)